Ten Hidden / Hacks Tips and Tricks on Your Apple iPhone

For the last few years, Apple iPhone has been the most popular smartphone in the world. The iPhone runs Apple’s proprietary iOS mobile operating system, which supports over 1.3 million apps. The iPhone provides you with several tweaks to its interface in order to make its usage enjoyable. In this article, you will find a few hidden features on the iPhone.

1. Shake to Undo an Action

Since iOS version 3, you are able to undo an action within the operating system by simply shaking your iPhone. Simple carefree shaking of your iPhone activates a menu that contains an undo button that removes the last typed word, recovers the last deleted file, etc. Shaking again opens a redo button as well. In fact, the trick works well with other Apple products too, such as the iPad and iPod Touch, if they run a supported iOS version.

2. Block Contact From Anybody

If you don’t like being contacted by a specific person, the new iPhone gives you the option to block that person. You can block calls, texts, or FaceTime communications from that person. In order to add a person to the block list, do the following steps. Click on the Info button next to the person’s name. Scroll down until you see “Block this Caller” option and tap it. You can do this from FaceTime as well as the Messages app.

3.  Slow Motion Video Capture

Within your iPhone camera, while recording a video footage, you can make specific parts of the video slow. iPhone 5S is the first iPhone to support this feature. In order to do this, open up the Camera app, and at the bottom, swipe to the right. Next to the Video option is an option labeled Slo-Mo. Click on it and you will be able to record your video in slow motion in 120 fps. Normal video recording is done in 1080p HD resolution, but slow motion recording is done in 720p HD.

4. Volume Button Takes Pictures

Did you know that you can click pictures with your iPhone’s volume button? Since the iPhone doesn’t have a dedicated camera button unlike many Android smartphones, you can turn its volume button into a camera button. Pressing either of the volume buttons will click a picture. However, the issue is iPhone volume buttons are at the wrong side, and if you hold it like a normal digital camera, the images clicked will be upside down. You will have to rotate the image before viewing it on a computer.

5. Twitter Feed Through Safari

You can use your Apple Safari browser in the iPhone as a Twitter client. You have to have Twitter activated within your iPhone by going to Settings->Twitter. After this, open up Safari, click on the Bookmarks button on the top, and press the @ button. You will see your Twitter stream with profile images and links.

6. Siri for Settings

Apple’s intelligent personal assistant, Siri, can now be used for settings as well. You can simply say “open settings” and Siri will open your iPhone’s Settings folder. Now, you can give her any command you want to tweak the iPhone settings.

7. Ways to Save Battery

You can use a number of methods on your iPhone to save its battery. One way is turning off certain features when you do not need them: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Location Services, 3G, LTE, Auto-Brightness, etc. You can turn them off under the Settings folder.

Additionally, in iOS  you can do certain other tweaks to save battery. One way is turning off the parallax effect that Apple introduced with iOS 7. You can do this by going to Settings->General->Accessibility->Reduce Motion option. Turning off AirDrop (Apple’s new file-sharing service) can also save battery. To turn it off, swipe up to bring up your Control Center, tap AirDrop, and select Off. To disable apps that refresh data in the background, go to Settings->General->Background App Refresh. Here, turn off unnecessary apps. Other ways to save battery include using static wallpapers, setting an appropriate Auto-Lock time, disabling unnecessary vibrations, and regular update of iOS 7.

8. Triple-Click Home Button

You can set an action to be done when you triple-click your Home button. The option is available in Settings->General->Accessibility. Triple-Click Home option can be used for VoiceOver, Zoom, Invert Colors, or Assistive Touch. Assistive Touch is an option that helps you perform certain difficult gestures.

9. Motion Control

The iPhone 5S provides you several motion control options. For instance, you can tilt your head to the left to control the Home button. In order to set up motion control sensors, go to Settings->General->Accessibility->Switch Control. Under Switches option, you can create new motion control settings. Now, select an item by tapping the Select Item switch and you will find your options. Various hardware actions, such as clicking or double-clicking the Home button, rotating device, pressing volume buttons, etc., can be done with motion control settings.

10. See Places You Visit Frequently on a Map

You have a feature known as Frequent Locations in your iPhone that lets you see your locations on a map. Go to Settings->Privacy->Location Services->System Services->Frequent Locations. Here, you can turn on this feature. You will be able to see all places you have been to within a map.

Conclusion

For a long time, the iPhone was regarded as an easy-to-use smartphone with limited customization options. Power users and geeks always resorted to Android due to its open-source nature. Now, however, people realize that iPhone provides some cool customization features that help you use the smartphone in any way you want.